Minister's explanation for lack of ORNGE oversight is very hard to believe

OTTAWA, Dec. 5, 2013 /CNW/ - The explanation of the Ontario Minister of Health for her failure to read an audit report on ORNGE is difficult to believe CUPE charged today.

" It is the duty of the Minister to provide oversight to ORNGE, which she has failed to do. She should clearly take responsibility. After the e-health scandal one would expect a heightened degree of attention at the Ministry, but sadly this is not the case. We need a much higher standard of accountability at the Ministry of Health," says Michael Hurley, president of CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions.

" The same lazy approach to Ministerial oversight is apparent in the case of members of the public gouged illegally by private endoscopy clinics. The advice of the Minister to members of the public victimized by illegal block fees in Ottawa was that they should seek reimbursement. It is the duty of the Minister to ensure that medically necessary health services are accessible and free. It is not the public's responsibility", Hurley says.

Private sector delivery of health care has surged under the Liberal government, often with disastrous results. The air ambulance system, ORNGE, E-health, the P3 hospital disaster in Brampton have all featured enormous costs, little oversight and system failures.

" Medical journals have thoroughly documented the clinical downside of private healthcare delivery, through organizations such as ORNGE: fewer services and higher death rates underwrite profits and fees. This government is poised to push clinical services now delivered in hospitals into private clinics, despite this evidence."

SOURCE: Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (CUPE)

Michael Hurley, President, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE
416-884-0770